The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

 

Following publication of our Geological Disposal: Steps towards implementation document, we want to provide an update on the development of our Commercial Strategy for the surface based investigations phase of the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) process.

The NDA's Radioactive Waste Management Directorate continues to work on this strategy following supply chain workshop which took place in 2009.

Andy Parkes, Site Characterisation Manager, said:

"The workshop with the supply chain sought their ideas on how we could best develop a contracting strategy. Over 140 delegates attended and they gave us a lot of valuable feedback on a way forward."

The Strategy will cover NDA's surface based investigation work which will be undertaken during Stage Five of the MRWS site selection process which is led by Government and is based on voluntarism and partnership with potential host communities.

As the process for site selection is dependent on volunteer communities, NDA cannot be definite about its plans at this stage. It is however undertaking preparatory work including developing this strategy.

At this early stage in the MRWS process where communities have yet to decide to participate, NDA is undertaking preparatory work to ensure that it can characterise any potential sites which are identified. The development of this strategy is part of this preparatory work.

The feedback from the supply chain and internal workshops has contributed to the definition of critical success factors, which the commercial strategy approach would need to satisfy. These are:

• We must make appropriate use of the supply chain with NDA focused on its role as "intelligent client"
• The Strategy must enable access to the technical resources in all disciplines best able to deliver quality assured and validated information to meet the specific user requirements of this complex project
• The Strategy must enable access to the managerial resources best able to meet project needs whilst demonstrating value for money
• The Strategy must allow Government and stakeholders to be satisfied that the project will be delivered effectively
• The Strategy must provide a framework to manage the evolving scope of the site characterisation programme.

The Strategy will focus on how NDA can best procure the resources needed to carry out surface based investigations once a site has been identified. A number of options or scenarios have been considered through a rigorous process which was also reviewed by an independent procurement expert.

Through this process we have identified a preferred approach to delivering the programme in a manner which meets our critical success factors. Two variations of this approach are still under consideration:-

1. This approach provides an implementation organisation through a number of contracts managed by a "Management Contractor" in partnership with NDA. There would be a single contract with a management contractor and a number of direct contracts to the supply chain for the works. This type of approach is commonly used in the construction industry and was also used for the Dounreay Shaft Site Investigations. The management contractor for these investigations provided a management team which combined technical understanding of similar investigations and a track record in delivering large complex projects.

Procurement of the majority of the works would be via contracts bid to and evaluated by NDA staff with support from the management contractor. The number of contracts let directly to the supply chain would be defined by NDA in the Contract Strategy.

In this scenario the management contractor would support NDA in a partnership type role providing the necessary team to help NDA manage the other contracts. The management contractor should be appointed early in the programme to assist in the compilation and optimisation of specifications, advise on contract strategy, undertake the procurements, planning, scheduling and day to day contract management. As the works contracts would be direct with NDA in this scenario, NDA would maintain a high degree of involvement with overall accountability and control over the investigations.

2.  A variation on this scenario would be to develop an implementation organisation through one contract to a management contractor who would place and manage the works contracts on behalf of NDA (see figure below).

Management contracting, involving separate procurement of managerial and technical resources retained within the supply chain, is considered likely to provide the most appropriate managerial and technical resources to deliver the evolving scope of work in response to iterations with the engineering and performance assessment teams. This approach is also considered to deliver maximum value from the supply chain, whilst allowing NDA to focus on its "Intelligent Client" role. 

NDA is keen to understand the issues and factors to be addressed in developing an appropriate contract strategy to implement this commercial approach. This is part of an ongoing process, we have hosted the workshop and a number of follow-up meeting and we are planning to present our proposed approach over the coming months and would welcome feedback either at these events or via the e-mail address below in the first instance.

Email: gdf.procurement@nda.gov.uk

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